1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coke oven servicing car capable of one-spot servicing on the coke side of a coke oven battery.
2. Prior Art
A coke oven is a long, narrow chamber which is accessed on each end through a removable door. The ovens are generally arranged side by side in an integral structure which forms a coke oven battery. This battery is serviced on both sides by cars which travel along tracks parallel to the battery. On one side, referred to as the "pusher side," the car has pusher equipment which urges the coke from the oven. On the other side, the "coke side," the car has a coke guide which spans the coke side bench and guides the coke from the oven into a quenching car. Both cars are provided with door extractor and door jamb cleaning equipment. The door extractor unlocks, removes and then reinstalls the oven door. The door cleaner removes coke and breeze from the door gas channels. The door jamb cleaner removes coke and breeze from the oven door jamb just prior to the reinstallation of the oven door.
The servicing of a coke oven on either side of the battery is obviously a time consuming operation that heretofore has usually required that the servicing car be repositioned several times during the servicing of a single oven in order to present each piece of equipment to that oven. Each time the car is positioned or repositioned at a selected oven, the car is said to be spotted.
It has long been a goal within the industry to develop coke servicing cars capable of single spot servicing. The car, once initially spotted at a selected oven, would not be repositioned or moved until that oven had been completely serviced. The benefits in terms of time, energy and money saved are substantial. One attempt at single spot servicing is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,316 which describes a car equipped with a carriage mounted for lateral movement toward and away from a selected oven. Pivotally mounted on this carriage is a circular turntable which supports a coke guide which extends across the diameter of the turntable and a door extractor and door jamb cleaner positioned on either side of the coke guide. After the car is spotted at the coke oven, the turntable is rotated to present the appropriate servicing device and then the carriage slides toward the oven. The rotational and sliding motions of this device result in the movement of a tremendous amount of mass at each step of the servicing process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,768 discloses a "single spot" machine which has a variety of servicing devices mounted on a frame which longitudinally traverses the servicing car. The car itself may be spotted only once but the traversing frame requires several additional "spottings."
While the invention as disclosed provides a true one-spot servicing car for the coke side of an oven battery, a portion of the invention is readily adaptable for use on the pusher side of the oven as well. That portion of the invention is directed toward an apparatus which controls and positions the door extractor and door jamb cleaner. While attempts have been made to combine the door servicing heads with a single supporting apparatus, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,840, the resulting device did not lend itself to single spot servicing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,840 discloses a coke guide car on which a door extracting head and door jamb cleaning head are mounted at a 90.degree. angle to each other on a vertical column. The column is mounted for rotational movement in order to present a selected servicing head to the oven and reciprocal movement perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the servicing car. Such reciprocal movement allows the column to be extended and retracted toward and away from the oven face. However, longitudinal movement of the car or at least some part of the car is necessary before additional servicing devices can be presented to the oven.
Another limitation in the present state of the art is eliminated by the subject invention. Present coke guide cars typically carry the coke guide mounted perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the servicing car. As a result, the car is virtually cut in half because both operator vision and access from one side of the car to the other side of the car is substantially reduced or eliminated. To permit at least a "walk-through" capacity from one side of the car to the other when the coke guide carriage is in a stowed position, the coke guide carriage is provided with a pair of doors which allow workmen to gain access to the far side of the car by "walking through" the coke guide. Because the doors are an integral part of the coke guide cage itself, they are in direct contact with the high temperature coke. The heat from the coke is retained by the doors and the coke guide so the danger of burns and other injuries is ever present. The instant invention eliminates these and other hazards by parking the carriage in a stowed position which is on the side of the car away from the face of the oven and nearly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the car. Of course, the difficulties associated with a lack of "through-vision" on the car are also eliminated.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a coke side servicing car which offers increased visual control to the operator and enhanced safety to the maintenance workers aboard the car.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a servicing car with a unique configuration of oven servicing devices which permits sequential indexing of said devices on a one-spot servicing car.